KNUST Alumni against moves to convert halls into mixed

Mr Charles Dontoh, the President of Katanga Alumni Association of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology on Tuesday described the decision to convert Katanga and Unity Halls into mixed ones as unsustainable approach.

He said the university management’s explanation that the reason for the conversion was to accommodate the female students on campus to protect them from the activities of rapists and incidences of attempts to rape, was unacceptable.

Mr Dontoh stressed that the University management’s explanation did not hold water, changing the status of the halls have not solved any problem related to accommodation as many students continue to rely on accommodation outside the campus.

The Katanga Alumni President said this at a joint press briefing in Accra to state the Association’s position on the actions by the university management.

He said the number of females assigned to Katanga was equal to the number of males who would have been potentially residents in the hall.

“As we speak now, the management of KNUST have dislodge all males from the main hall of Katanga with 198 rooms and admitted females into the said rooms leaving only the annex for the males, which has only 96 rooms.

“We have been pondering over how the University management could increase the number of female residents on campus without discriminating against the males given that, there have not been attempts to construct new halls of residence for student,” he said.

The lack of vision by the management had resulted in the unfortunate policy of in-out-out–out, where only the freshmen are being accommodated on campus.

Mr Dontoh expressed concern about security on campus, adding that recently, three students of Katanga were arrested at the instance of the management for attempting to go to the poolside on campus and were incarcerated for two days in the police cells.

He said the hall executives who have been voted for, have been denied accommodation on campus on condition that they would be considered for accommodation if they withdraw a legal suit pending before the High Court in Kumasi.

Mr Patrick Baah Dadzie, the Past President of KNUST Unity Hall Alumni also said the Katanga and the Unity Halls Association have had series of discussions with the Vice-Chancellor and proposed viable solutions to the accommodation challenges faced by the students.

He said the association brought an Estate Developer from US and some Architects to present some plans but the management did not heed to their plans, but rather resorted to implementing the mixed halls system.

Mr Dadzie said both Katanga and Unity Alumni, would not relent on their oars but shall continue to resort to all available legal and acceptable means to ensure that the accommodation problems on campus was solved in a better, pragmatic and more sustainable way.